Furnace shopping - Looking for input

[Stephen Pereira]

I just replaced my 80% gas furnace with a 95% furnace made by York. The difference in price was about $400.00. I installed it myself..it wasn't very difficult. Venting with PVC is fairly easy..read the instructions that come with the manual and ask lots of questions fro the furnace tech dept if you don't understand anything. I chose the least complicated furnace I could find..easier to repair if need be. The replacement parts on some of these new furnaces is out of sight. Most new furnaces come with a 10 yr parts replacement guarantee and a lifetime warranty on the heat exchanger. A combustion motor on a new furnace can easily cost you 1/2 price of a new furnace..these are list prices.

[Brian Elfert]

Where did you find a place to buy your own furnace? Wholesale suppliers usually only sell to those in the trade. There are some websites that specialize in selling to the DIY folks, but they usually sell lesser brands like Goodman.

Is the warranty still valid if you installed it yourself?

[Stephen Pereira]

I bought my furnace from Dey Distributing. I work for a propane company and bought the furnace through them..however. I think that Dey will sell a furnace to anyone who can fork over the cash. If you live in a rural area call your energy co op..tell them you will install your own furnace and want a good deal..maybe 10 to 15% over cost. If they won't go for that tell them to go pound sand and you'll find someone who will..its not that hard ..money talks.Warranty..all you have to do is register online..nothing to it.

[Kev Williams]

There are some websites that specialize in selling to the DIY folks, but they usually sell lesser brands like Goodman.

I had an 80% Goodman furnace installed about 4 years ago. The 'estimator' calculated I only needed a 110k BTU furnace. I was replacing a 140k 80% Airtemp, and I kinda disputed his figures at first, but he assured me he I'd be happy with a 110k...

The Goodman is only 2/3 the size of the old Airtemp. I was intrigued by the heat exchanger design, looked like a bunch of twisty pipes. It has spark ignition, a flue blower and a 2-stage burner, all new to me. The only time the 2nd stage runs (has ever run that I know of) is when it first fires. First time it kicked on I noticed the blower came on about 10 seconds after the burner fired. The air coming from the vents was lukewarm at best. I thought "well, I guess I can have them come in a put in a bigger unit"... But was I pleasantly surprised!

In going thru my gas bills 3 years prior the average was just about $85 a month on equal pay. Since the Goodman was installed my average bill has been less than $60 a month.

I've come to the conclusion that the estimator was dead on, and the Goodman is doing something right! Lukewarm air or not, the house is always comfortable, and the money I'm saving has almost paid for the thing. I'd recommend one to anybody...

[Stephen Pereira]

Goodman had a bad reputation for cracking heat exchangers...at least with the HVAC contractors in my local area. I couldn't say if the reputation is deserved but I will say that Goodman has warranted every cracked heat exchanger..no matter the age of the furnace and who installed it. I just called up the Goodman dealer..tell them the heat exchanger is cracked and they send a new one out..no questions.

[ken masoumi]

I have always had good luck with Keeprite furnaces ,last year we had the latest model installed and in the peak of Canadian winter we never paid more than $90 per month, it's 97% AFUE and has a stainless steel heat exchanger,very quiet I highly recommend it.
The KeepRite® VC 97 Variable-Speed Modulating Gas Furnace featuring the Observer™
http://www.keeprite.com/products/vc97.html

[Jim Becker]

A correctly sized unit with multi-stage, variable fan speed and a continuous air flow will keep a home very comfortable. You don't need "hot" air coming out of the vents to replace a lot of cold air that creeps in between furnace cycles because you have a more consistent temperature throughout the home and you use less fuel. With the fan always running, even at low speeds, you also get better filtration of the air. (the same holds true in the summer when AC is online)

[Pat Barry]

A correctly sized unit with multi-stage, variable fan speed and a continuous air flow will keep a home very comfortable. You don't need "hot" air coming out of the vents to replace a lot of cold air that creeps in between furnace cycles because you have a more consistent temperature throughout the home and you use less fuel. With the fan always running, even at low speeds, you also get better filtration of the air. (the same holds true in the summer when AC is online)

I am already finding that having the fan run continuously is probably the way to go. On our old furnace the fan noise was so loud we didn't like to have it running. The new fan, with variable speed, runs very quiet.

[Tom Giacomo]

I purchased a Rheem 94 percent, two speed over the internet. Many mfgs will not sell to DIY.